Friday April 1, 2016

A Trip to China

Do you want to know one of the best ways to receive stares from hundreds of people you can’t understand? One solution — just take a vacation to China and make sure you bring an Irish mother (who somehow loves to embarrass her kids), an American father (who has no power to protect his embarrassed kids), and three adopted Chinese children that can’t understand a word of anything when Chinese people are screaming at them in a language they don’t understand (and definitely have no power to protect themselves from the picture-loving mother). How do we know this? Well, it turns out, that is exactly what our family did. We simply packed up and left home for three weeks into an unknown realm halfway across the planet…

Now, let me tell you right now, that it wasn’t at all bad like my brother may have foreshadowed beforehand, but rather the best three weeks of our lives!!! To begin, we had to wake up early. Like really, really early when we still had tons of sleep snot in our eyes. We had already packed our bags a week in advance, making piles of clothes, studying the piles, shaking heads and making new piles. That meant that all we had to do was grab our bags and lug them out to the taxi that was coming to drive us all to the airport. The drive to the airport was a quiet one, full of restrained excitement that no one could release because we were almost asleep. After a half hour long check in, and another two-hour wait for the plane, we were off to…Detroit, Michigan. Yeah, I know, it’s not what you were expecting, but Detroit was just the connecting stop. After another two-hour wait in Detroit, we were off to…RDU. Nope, just kidding. This time we were really on our way to Beijing, China. Even though, our legs were stiff, and our behinds were sore, we were finally back in the country of our birth. We were welcomed into China by an enthusiastic man named Arthur. Mentally we took to naming him “King Arthur” just to make him more memorable. However as the next few days progressed, I felt that the name would not be the only thing memorable about him. We exited the airport and King Arthur called our ride to us. A half hour later we were bunking down into our hotel rooms with nothing but sleep on our minds. It had been a long day of travel and everybody was exhausted. Soon, everyone had fallen into such a deep slumber that we would not have woken up from if the world were coming to an end.

Our first full day of touring in Beijing was punctuated with a full-day excursion to the Great Wall of China (and an unnamed party walking into the wrong bathroom). This was one of the sights we had definitely been looking forward to the most, and we were all on the edge of our seats during the ride to the Wall. At first, we thought the Wall happened to be a myth, because the smog was so bad, you could barely see it. The basics of the wall (as explained by the majestic King Arthur) are that it was built to keep out the nomadic tribes from the north that were a constant threat to the safety of the Chinese empire. I don’t think the builders had imagined the wall would become a World Heritage Site, but it definitely deserves that title. It offers a magnificent view of the surrounding mountains and the Wall itself was a wonder of architecture as it winds itself up and down mountains, across rivers and valleys, and stretches for over 13,000 miles. Even though we only walked about three of those miles, our legs would barely hold us up, because of the steep stairways, giant steps, and a helter-skelter run into the wrong bathroom. However, our legs were saved by a fast-paced toboggan ride on a winding, metal, open chute, down the side of the mountain that was dubbed “completely safe” by King Arthur. (I guess so since First Lady Michelle Obama rode down it too). After a full day, it was back to the hotel for a much-needed full-night’s rest.

The next day, was another day full of touring famous sights in Beijing including Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven. By now, we had realized two main things about Chinese culture. They serve amazing food in huge quantities, and neither driver nor pedestrian care much for each other. I am quite certain we all gained at least ten pounds during our three-week stay in China, even though we did a lot of walking. I am also fairly certain that any Chinese person could walk across a NASCAR racetrack full of cars without getting hit. Pedestrians here either have so much confidence they walk in front of cars all the time, or they don’t really care for their lives. That is really how it is on the roads. People never listen to the stop or go signs and weave through traffic like an ant weaving through blades of grass that are moving at 40 miles and hour.

Anyway, back to touring Tiananmen Square. It’s the largest public square in the world, but I think on this day, it was a place for Chinese people to stare at crazy Americans in green shirts getting their picture taken in front of a huge portrait of Mao Zedong. It just so happened that this day was St. Patrick’s Day and, of course, our mother wanted everybody to wear Irish shirts and take a picture. Well, I think we were the main tourist attraction of the day, because about fifty Chinese people seemed interested enough to take pictures of us as well. Until it happens to you, there is no way to simulate the feeling you get your own mother is making you pose for a picture in front of 200 people that are saying things you don’t understand, in a country that is halfway across the world from your home. The square itself was actually very cool. It was right outside the walls to the Forbidden City, and a huge portrait of Mao Zedong was in the middle. Mao Zedong was the leader of the Chinese communist party from the 1930s to the late 1940s, created the People’s Republic of China in 1949, and led the country for 10 years after that. Next, we walked across the street to the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was just that — a forbidden city. It was pretty much the Imperial Palace where the emperor and all the royals lived and no commoners were allowed in. Arthur told us all about the history of the Forbidden City, why it was built and much more. It turns out that the whole thing was finished in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty and was the home of the Emperor of China until 1911 when the Qing Dynasty, the last Dynasty of China ended. Now it is an important tourist attraction for the city of Beijing.

Next on our list was the Temple of Heaven. This temple was really a large complex of buildings that was built for the emperor to make sacrifices to the gods to ask for a good harvest and thanking them for a good harvest if his first wish was granted. The emperor would kill various animals and burn their bodies at a sacrificial altar. Then, he would offer wine to the gods to please them along with the animals. That meant the temple would only be used twice in a whole year! The buildings were gorgeous with stunning paintings on the roofs and ceilings of them. I can’t believe that someone would build something with that much detail and effort only to use it twice a year. (That’s crazy.)

We started the next day early, still getting used to the time zone, and met Arthur in the lobby. Our first stop was the bike tour of the Hutongs (a hutong is a narrow alley way of houses), and our family was eager to bike around this historic neighborhood. The Hutong are historically significant, because they were the birthplace of Beijing — the first working class neighborhood in the city. When we arrived at our destination we were in a courtyard of sorts, with two different tall buildings. Arthur explained they were the bell and drum tower, and they told the time. A few minutes later, we were greeted by a man named Robin who showed us where we would be eating later, and then we were lead to the bikes. Originally our family thought we ourselves would bike around the hutongs, but when we saw the bikes we realized we were way off. Instead there were three carts attached to three bikes, with three bikers. These three bikers biked us around the historic neighborhood while Robin explained the importance of the buildings and the historic memories. A few minutes and near death experiences later, our family exits the narrow alleys of the hutongs where we entered. After that eventful ride, we traveled to the summer palace. The day was spectacular, and the views even more so. The cherry blossom trees were in full bloom, and the sky was as blue as it could be (not very blue but oh well). As our family walked down a really, really long hall, with beautiful artwork on the ceiling, and hanging from the ceiling (I know what you’re thinking…) we were earning many stares from the natives. A few even approached our mom and dad asking for selfies. It was really weird. (Did I mention that selfie sticks in China seem to make up about 20% of the economy? Almost everywhere you look you see Chinese with selfie sticks). We saw a beautiful marble boat, that I really wished could float, and walked up a really steep hill. Arthur then took us for a Peking duck dinner at a restaurant that was more than 100 years old. Peking duck is just a name for roast duck that is a famous dish from Beijing. Peking is just Beijing in Cantonese, a secondary language in China. The food as usual was spectacular, and Arthur showed us how to properly eat roast duck. After the delicious meal, we went to the Red Theater for a show about Kung Fu. By the time the show was over, we were all exhausted from a packed day, and welcomed the hotel room beds with open arms.

The next day, we had to part ways with King Arthur. We were moving on to our next city, Hefei. Also known as Matthew’s home city and the capital and largest city of Anhui Province. It was a long bullet train ride to Hefei, and when we arrived, we met our next tour guide, Georgiana. She was a much more straightforward guide than Arthur, but that was OK. We drove to our new hotel in the center of the city and settled in for the day ahead. We were scheduled to visit Matthew’s orphanage.

In the morning, everyone woke up bright and early for a van ride to Lu’an, the town of Matthew’s birth and the location of his orphanage. On the way, we learned that the orphanage was now at a new site, but the same people still worked there, including the director. Upon arriving at the orphanage we were greeted by a woman who led us in and up to a meeting room. Soon, the director came in and Matthew gave a speech about his life, which was translated by Georgiana. He felt so overjoyed with having the chance to go back to see his place of birth and where he spent the first year of his life. After that, everybody went to the dining room for lunch with the director and orphanage workers. At lunch, everybody talked to everybody else with Georgiana translating for both our family and the orphanage workers. Once lunch was over, our family was taken on a tour of the facility, which was very clean and bright, which contrasted that of Matthew’s real orphanage according to our mother. It made Matthew feel so happy for the other children that they were able to have a good home while they lived in the orphanage. In one of the rooms, there were children in cribs sleeping. Matthew was really sad and so was mom, because the babies had scars on their faces and hands that probably would prevent them from getting adopted. In the same room, there was a nanny that wanted to know Matthew’s Chinese name, which we gave. She said that she had taken care of Matthew when he was at the orphanage. After the tour, Matthew got to see his file, which included a picture he had not received, and his footprint. It was a very emotional moment for him to get to see how tiny he was and what he looked like as a baby. It also had a statement from one of the orphanage workers about how Matthew was found outside the orphanage gates in a basket with a milk bottle and blanket. That made him feel glad that his parents cared about him enough to make sure he was warm and fed. Then, we drove to the original orphanage where Matthew was found and took some pictures with Matthew at his home for the first year of his life. That was the most emotional part of the day, because of the sheer importance that building had on Matthew’s life. It had been a great visit, but, sadly, it was time to leave.

The next day, we had to depart Hefei to go to Hangzhou, which was the city that Olivia was adopted in. In the morning, we drove to the train station and got on the train smoothly like we had done it a million times. When we arrived, our next tour guide, Yolanda, was waiting at the station for us. We drove to our newest hotel and went for a walk in the city. The next day was a full day of touring the city of Hangzhou.

This day was one of the busiest days we had in China. We learned a lot as well, because Yolanda was a really good tour guide. The first stop was the Liuhe Pagoda, or 6 Harmonies Pagoda. A pagoda is either a Buddhist or Hindu temple that is a sacred or holy place. The 6 harmonies in Chinese culture are North, South, East, West, Heaven, and Earth. According to Yolanda, it was built next to the Qiantang River as a lookout in case tsunamis arose. The city of Hangzhou was experiencing a lot of tsunamis because the river had no barriers on its banks to stop the flow of water. The King ordered for embankments to be built along the riverside to prevent future flooding. The pagoda provided a lookout for monks to watch the river and make sure no more tsunamis occurred.

Next, we visited the tea village of Hangzhou, one of the most famous tea villages in China. Tea is a very important commodity in China especially green tea. It is valued for its medicinal purposes, because it can help prevent cancer among other things (like helping weight loss, blood pressure, tooth decay… where were you when Yolanda told us this???) This tea village supplied tea to the emperor when there was still a Chinese Empire. That means the best tea in the country was grown in Hangzhou, and brought straight to the Emperor.

After a quick lunch, we drove to the Ling Yin Temple, a Buddhist temple in Hangzhou. Here, there was a series of Buddhist carvings in a stone hill that had been preserved for hundreds of years. The sculptures were brilliantly done and exquisitely carved, each and every one of them. Moving on, we found buildings where monks went to worship with statues of Sitting Buddhas and Laughing Buddhas. The Laughing Buddha and Sitting Buddha are important parts of Chinese culture. Almost every city or town in China has a temple enshrining them. The Laughing Buddha represents abundance and happiness, while the Sitting Buddha represents good fortune and prosperity. There were also huge 30-foot tall statues of the Kings of North, East, South, and West glaring down at you from the four cardinal directions. These kings watch down on everybody from the heavens and make sure that you are doing what you are supposed to do (I seem to recall you being paranoid that they were staring at you…) They were included in the temple to remind worshippers that they were being watched from above. The last event on schedule for the day was a boat tour on West Lake, a lake right in the center of Hangzhou. After the boat ride across the lake, we all went back to the hotel and went to bed early after a full day of history and sightseeing.

Today was a big day for Olivia (our sister), because we went to her orphanage. When we had arrived in Hangzhou our parents were very upset, because we wouldn’t be able to see her file or her original orphanage site, because it was closed. However, Yolanda, being a great guide, organized that we would be able to meet the director and the current faculty, which was a seniors home, at where she worked. The director was really nice but was disappointed that Olivia lost her ability to speak Chinese. The director then showed us the old building where the orphanage was, but told us we couldn’t enter because it now had a totally different function than that of ten years ago. Afterwards, we returned to the retirement home, ate lunch, and left for the hotel to start packing for our bullet train ride to Nanjing the next day.

In the morning, we ran through the same drill we had in Beijing and Hefei. We got up and after eating breakfast, left for the train station to catch our train to Nanjing where we would spend a few days. Bullet trains are very convenient for domestic travel, because they are very reliable and can reach speeds of up to 300 kph (186 mph). (They also have a lot more foot space than planes. I wish America had some bullet trains.) The ride was the shortest of the four we took while in China, and when we reached our destination, we hopped off the train and met our new tour guide, Denise. Soon, we were in another van on the way to our Nanjing hotel.

The next day, our first stop was the Nanjing City Wall. It was built 600 years ago, to strengthen Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang’s power, and to keep out invaders. Like the Great Wall, it has been very well preserved and still stands steadily today. Our next tourist attraction was Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum. Lunch was followed quickly afterwards, and after learning that it was polite for guests to finish the whole meal from Denise, we found it rather hard to walk back to the van, with our stuffed stomachs. We returned to the hotel for a few hours before meeting with some old friends from Durham, for dinner. A few years ago, Aelex had a best friend called May. May had come to America with her mom, because of work, but after a year, May had to return to China. The girls mailed each other for a while, until the steady stream of mails turned to one a month, and then none at all. So when they faced each other in the hotel, they realized they were staring at a stranger, with a familiar face. Pretty soon the girls became familiar to each other though, especially during an exciting adventure while getting lost in an 80-floor building’s stairway. (It wasn’t that tall, she’s exaggerating. I am not!) That night, Aelex stayed with May’s family.

In the morning, Aelex woke up and visited May’s school. It was quite large, and even though it was a Saturday, May’s acting club was meeting there. The girls were very curious about Aelex and her life in America. They envied her tiny load of homework every week, to their piles of homework every day. After saying goodbye to May’s friends, Aelex met up with her family at a museum. After looking around, May’s family took them to the park, just outside of the City Wall. It was a wonderful day out, and everyone loved walking around (with a slight accident near the end of the walk concerning May falling into the lake). Dinner was a delicious hot pot that was absolutely fabulous. After saying farewell again, Aelex and May walked their own individual paths, Aelex to her hotel, and May home. Tomorrow was special, the family was going to Aelex’s orphanage.

It was a long drive from Nanjing to Aelex’s orphanage in Yangzhou, and she spent most of the time staring out the window of the van. Aelex was still sullenly sulking about her phone breaking, a few days prior. Denise, the tour guide for Nanjing told us that we were drawing near, and to get our stuff ready. Aelex was really excited, but nervous too. She kept her eyes glued to the window, and what lay beyond. We entered through some cool looking gates that can compress together, and passed some beautiful trees and a tiny water fall. We stopped and Aelex caught her breath when she saw the building. Even though she knew it was not the original building, it was still something she could link to her past. We climbed out of the car, and our family and Aelex walked up to the front steps. A pretty young woman approached us with a clipboard in her hands. She welcomed us in English, and said her name was Gill, so she must have learned the language. When we entered the building, paper hung from the ceiling. When Aelex looked closer she realized that it was a colored drawing. Gill then showed us to a large room with lots of pictures in it. Hundreds upon hundreds of pictures of babies. Gill asked us if we could find Aelex amongst the other pictures. After some time searching, we found Aelex. It was so amazing! Next, the Gill took us to where they currently had children. When Aelex first saw them she had tears in her eyes. They were all disabled, because the new rule was that only disabled children were to be put in orphanages. There were about 20 of them sitting in chairs or lying down in cribs. When we entered the room, we had each child’s attention. The first room we entered, the ages were from 1 to 3. Dad got so emotional that he picked a child up. But when the time came we had to go, and when dad put the child down, he started bawling, and dad, feeling guilty, had to leave so the nurses could settle him down. The next room had children ranging the age of 4 to 7. One boy was staring at us as he hung dangerously close to the edge of his crib. It was heartbreaking. We left the children to eat, in a nice quiet room, where the cooks kept bringing in plates of food. The conversation was an awkward one, and Gill had brought two of her friends and colleagues to dine with us. The topic ranged from how Aelex’s was, to what her hobbies were and what she like to do. Aelex did learn some things, like that her love for noodles and rice were apparently shared through all women born in Yangzhou. She also learned that none of her former nannies were in the workforce anymore. Although Aelex was disappointed, the next stop would make her very emotionally unstable. Why? Well the next stop was to look at her file. Every baby in an orphanage has their own unique file, full of medicine documents, the age and weight when found, where the baby was found, and some police reports on finding the baby. Not all orphanages can show the parents their baby’s file, due to different laws for each province. Aelex was fortunate, and we were allowed to view her file, with her two emotionally unstable parents, and siblings. Although all of it was in Chinese characters Aelex was still happy to get to see it. Our guide Denise translated some for us, and we were allowed to copy and bring some of the paperwork home. It was so unbelievable that Aelex was actually there, in her orphanage with a file, dating back to thirteen years ago when she was a tiny baby. Everyone was a little teary-eyed. It really was a beautiful moment. After viewing the file, everyone went outside, and wandered the grounds. Her mother, with her love of photography, wanted millions of pictures, for proof that she actually brought Aelex back to her orphanage. There was a small playground and Aelex and her siblings played there while their parents and the ladies talked with Denise. Time was running short, and before Aelex left she was asked to write something about her visit to the orphanage in a book that was proudly displayed in the pictures room. After pondering for a while, and reading others review Aelex wrote her heart out. Farewells are never easy, and to end this wonderful trip, mom took many more pictures of the orphanage and the nice ladies. She also requested a stop at the cool gates that could compact to get a picture with a sign that Aelex didn’t notice when we first arrived. Then we drove to the street where Aelex was found. Even though the street was torn up with construction, there was a sign that had the name of the street on it. Mom took many photos while Aelex got sand in her eyes, and we departed back to the hotel to get ready for our bullet train to our last stop before home, Shanghai.

You probably know exactly what I am going to say here, but I have to say it anyway. We woke up pretty early to catch our bullet train to Shanghai, ate a quick breakfast, and drove to the station. Soon, we were sitting on our last train ride in China.

This was it, our last stop before home. We met our last tour guide in the bullet train station, and you would think that we would make our way to the hotel to get unpacked as usual. Well, not quite. Instead the new tour guide, Joyce, decided to do some sightseeing that had originally been scheduled for tomorrow. Mom wasn’t happy because that would mean leaving our luggage in the car even though Joyce assured us that it would be ok. We ate, then walked on the Shanghai Bund, which was cool because it showed both east and west Shanghai in a single walk. East Shanghai was the modernized part and was home to the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Shanghai Tower, the tallest building in China and the second-tallest building in the world. West Shanghai is home to older buildings that were built by foreign countries when Shanghai was still a port controlled by foreigners after China lost the Boxer Rebellion. Anyway, we were just walking, and talking as a family, when we saw a group of Chinese women all wearing matching dresses. That was when it happened. Mom’s eyes got a spark in them and she asked the women for a picture with her children. Matthew and I were thoroughly embarrassed and pleaded with our father to talk Mom out of it, but apparently Dad is helpless. Mom then made us stand with the flower dress ladies, and had everyone stare at us. Some even took pictures. After that “incident” we went to the Shanghai Museum. It featured mostly Shanghai history, but had some history of China as a whole. First, we went to the bronze exhibition, with some amazing bronze art. There was this one piece of bronze art that caught my eye. It had amazing carvings of a bronze dragon encircling the base, and the detail work was so small and precise. Then we looked at the furniture gathering. The woodwork was pretty neat too, and finally my favorite, the artwork. In a few strokes the painter had turned the sheet into a beautiful picture, or in many complicated strokes, an exquisite masterpiece. We left the museum with some small souvenirs and finally departed to our hotel. Tomorrow would be the last full day in China.

For our last day in China, we were going to the Jade Buddha Temple, Silk Museum, Shanghai World Financial Center, and the Yu Gardens. At this point, we were somewhat bored of Buddhist Temples, so we made quick work of the one in Shanghai, especially after seeing the Ling Yin Temple in Hangzhou. The Jade Buddha Temple was smaller than the other temples we already visited and looked very newly built. Plus there were a lot of people there chanting in Chinese which sounded really cool. Next on the schedule was the Jiangsu Silk Museum. Even though they call themselves a museum, it was really a shop where the employees were trying to get you to buy their product and in the meantime they talk about the product a little. The Silk comes from a silkworm cocoon, and there are two types, double and single. The single cocoons are boiled and then threaded by a machine to be used as scarves or clothes. The double cocoons are to be taken apart by hand, as not to tear or break the cocoon and stretched and dried. Then once dried they are stretched one more time to be made into blankets. Silk is unlike cotton because it is very strong and naturally fluffy, and, to put it in our guide’s’ words, “Soft as a baby’s bottom.” After turning down the offer to buy some “best quality silk blankets,” (and earning an outraged look from our guide, Joyce (in her single spare second of not staring at her phone)) we left the “museum” to visit the Shanghai World Financial Center. This building had been the tallest building in Shanghai for a while until the Shanghai Tower was built in 2008 and finished in 2015. Unfortunately, this tower would not be open to the public for another two days. Anyway, the Shanghai World Financial Center is 103 stories tall, although the observation deck is on the 101st floor, so that is where we went. Upon arriving on the 101st floor we were met with glass windows all everywhere, so you could see down. There was even a section of the floor that was glass, so you could look down and see a dizzying drop. Totally not good for a person with the fear of heights. I guess that static electricity really loves high places, because while we were up there, every time we touched each other, or a piece of metal, we would get a pretty bad shock. We started playing static tag, by touching another and shocking them. Aelex got paranoid and held a coin every time she would touch something metal, so the coin would get shocked and not her. It worked pretty well until she shocked Mom on the arm with the coin, and she just had to grab me and shock me back. Anyway, with all the “shocking tag” over with, we were finally able to marvel at the majestic view from the 101st floor of a building. Mom, of course, had to get a photo of us crouching down from above everything in Shanghai. After all the photos were taken, and all the shocks had been given we headed off to our last stop in China—the Yu Garden. It was another beautiful day, one that will be cherished for days to come, when we took that step out of the van and into the garden, all our breaths were stolen. The garden was simply marvelous, with flowers and trees blossoming. The koi were even feeling happy today for they were swimming frantically in circles with their adorable mouths gaping open in happiness. The building was so old and cool, and there was a small rock display. I mean who doesn’t like rocks? They were just so fabulous. With that, we got back into the van to go back to the hotel one last time for our last night’s sleep in China.

Here we must depart my friends, and I hope this trip will make as much as a lasting impression on you as it did for our family. Now, the Irish mother, American father and three Chinese children must leave China. To be honest, being a pop star wasn’t too bad. I mean the stares were uncanny but pictures? Man, who doesn’t like being taken pictures of? I bet my dad loved getting his picture taken when he walked into a door. I can already see the headline: American Tourist Walks Into a Revolving Door! Well at least now I can say been there and done that when the name China comes up. Anyway, to break ties cleanly, I must speak a single sentence. Goodbye and thank you for reading this.

Our trip was wonderful while it lasted, but, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. We toured 5 different Chinese cities, each with its own unique blend of history, culture, and traditions. China has progressed so much since we were born there, and now its economy is second only to the United States. Its population continues to grow and it is already the most populated country on the planet. The country has seen many different dynasties, governments, and rulers in its long history, but today they are the People’s Republic of China. We learned so much on our trip and had such a great time in our country of birth. Sadly, we had to leave, but the experiences we had, and the memories we made, will stay with us forever.

By Matthew and Aelex Congiusta